You Can Start Fishing By The Numbers April 1

The state will begin a 12-month creel survey April 1 to help make some management decisions on Lake Michigan.

Both shore and boat fishermen will be surveyed for the number, species and locations of fish caught. The project is funded by sales of salmon stamps.

Also on April 1, the smelt season will begin. Netting will be allowed daily between 7 p.m. and 3 a.m. through May 12.

-- Ice fishermen: Thousands of dollars in prizes will be available at this weekend`s Chain O` Lakes fishing derby. Several resorts and bait shops are serving as check-in stations.

-- Mark calendars: Southwest Siders can check out the Northern Illinois Fishing and Sports Expo at Lockport East High School Feb. 16-17, sponsored by the Exchange Club of Lockport. Seminar emphasis will be on Shabbona, Lake Michigan and the Kankakee. . . . A $20 contribution to Christian Life School admits you to Halter Wildlife preserve in Kenosha for hunting and fishing Feb. 18.

Shedd Aquarium`s new nature lecture series features the wetlands and waterways of Illinois. Wisconsin limnologist Jeff Hagar discusses the Lake Michigan fishery at 7 p.m. March 7; Judith Faulkner, Nature Conservancy field rep, deals with Southern Illinois cypress wetlands March 14; and Rip Sparks, aquatic biologist for the Illinois Natural History Survey, discusses the Illinois River March 28. Call 929-2426.

-- Elsewhere: Wisconsin`s Department of Natural Resources has a Feb. 11 public hearing in Madison over proposed use of Diquat, copper sulfate, A&V-70l and Aquathol K in Lakes Mendota, Monona, Waubesa and Inter-Lake to control aquatic weeds. . . . Rabbit hunters are having a disastrous season in Michigan`s U.P., where snowshoes apparently are on their low cycle. . . . Subscribers to South Dakota`s ``Walleyes Unlimited`` tabloid suddenly will receive a replacement, ``Dakota Fisherman,`` which recognizes burgeoning interest there in salmon and panfish.

Michigan is asking sports clubs to raise and release all 30,000 pheasant chicks that the state normally would produce this year. That`s because Michigan`s game farm will be tied up entirely the next two years with a strain of pheasant to be imported later this month from China for possible introduction in 1986. . . . The Lake Winnebago-only sturgeon spearing season opens Saturday, running through March 1. Call 608-266-1877 or 414-923-3010 for details.